Summary: The 4th International Odissi Dance Festival in 2011 was held from December 23 to 30, 2011, at Rabindra Mandap Bhubaneswar. The festival was preceded by an attempt to create a world record by having around 550 dancers perform together at Kalinga Stadium. It saw the participation of most major Odissi ensembles in Orissa and a few from outside the state. With performances for over twelve hours each day, the festival featured several hundred performers in solo, duet and group works over eight days. In its scale, the festival offered a bird's eye view of the landscape of contemporary Odissi and its ever-changing nature. It foregrounded new trends in choreography, music and costuming. The seminars during the festival sparked lively debates on issues and concerns in Odissi. One such concern, voiced repeatedly, questioned the definition of tradition within the space of the dance form and the limits it could be stretched to. This raised parallel questions about innovation and experimentation

Manoranjan Pradhan was trained at the Orissa Dance Academy in India under Guru Gangadhar Pradhan and completed an MA in Odissi dance at Sangeet Mahavidyalaya, Utkal University. A major part of his career has been spent dancing and teaching in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Minati Dasgupta has worked as a teacher at the Odissi Research Centre in Bhubaneswar. She has performed and taught workshops in the Odissi style in India and elsewhere and is an 'A' grade artist certified by the government of Orissa. in Odissi - a debate that found itself mirrored in the performances during the festival.